. . . Despite early fears, it now appears that the Trump EPA—led by climate-science denier and fossil-fuel advocate Scott Pruitt—has backed away from plans to attack that waiver, which would eliminate the state's ability to set its own emission rules. According to a report in The Washington Post last Thursday, Pruitt told lawmakers at an EPA budget hearing, "Currently, the waiver is not under review. . . ."

Eradicating every effort made by the Obama administration to reduce carbon emissions and limit climate change has been a hallmark of its early policy actions, including Trump's announcement that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty it signed last year.

The state of California had clearly indicated that it had no intention of going along with any of this, and that it would marshal a strong resistance among like-minded states. . . .

So what is this waiver, exactly? Section 177 of the Clean Air Act gives California the unique authority to seek waivers from the U.S. government to set its own emission standards, which must equal or exceed national standards. This stemmed from the state's efforts to regulate such emissions starting in the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act or the Environmental Protection Agency even existed. States have the option to adopt California's stricter standards—as 10 have done—or to comply with the national standards. . . .

Part of California's current emission law is its zero-emission vehicle sales rules, which require automakers to sell a certain number of vehicles with no harmful tailpipe emissions in the state each year, proportional to their in-state sales volume.

LTLFTcomposite wrote:Did they back away from it or did they never actually approach it?

Shhh!!! How dare you question the liberal media's message!

Subtle media bias. Just a few words in a headline carries the message that they made a grevious error thinking they could take on the environmental pitbulls of CA, but they were scared off, partly because they've been weakened by all the ongoing investigations.

LTLFTcomposite wrote:Did they back away from it or did they never actually approach it?

Shhh!!! How dare you question the liberal media's message!

Subtle media bias. Just a few words in a headline carries the message that they made a grevious error thinking they could take on the environmental pitbulls of CA, but they were scared off, partly because they've been weakened by all the ongoing investigations.

Oh, I'm with you 100%. I'm not particularly conservative nor liberal (well, I guess it depends on the issue at hand, but not overall). It still amazes me the blatant (to me) liberal bias in the media. Most "reporters" these days depend entirely on emotions and opinions. Facts be damned!

The California Air Resources Board finalized its rules for vehicle emissions through the year 2025 on Friday. These are the same rules that the state agreed to adopt in 2012 as the Obama administration sought to create one national standard that would apply to all 50 states. California also approved an increase in alternative fuel powertrains – batteries, fuel cells, and plug-in hybrids – from around 3 percent today to around 15 percent by 2025.

The Trump administration has vowed to reconsider these tough emissions requirements, which basically determine the fuel efficiency of cars sold in the United States. In a further potential showdown with California, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said his organization will review the state's right to enforce emissions standards that are more strict than those adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. . . . Currently, Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia have all adopted California's greenhouse gas regulations.

WASHINGTON During a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Donald’s Trump nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said he’d open up a review of new federal auto emissions standards and also review waivers granted to California to enact auto standards stronger than those of the federal government. . . .

Pruitt, who has filed numerous lawsuits against the EPA while taking contributions from industries supporting those lawsuits, has long argued that states should have more authority to manage environmental issues. But when questioned by Harris and other senators about California’s waivers, he declined to say if he would uphold them.

“Administrators in past have not granted the waiver and have granted the waiver,” Pruitt said in response to questions from Harris. “That is a review process that will be conducted. . . ”

If you prefer your opinions slanted the other way, where it's hoped that he would eliminate the waivers, from Breitbart: